DiscussionPortrait head of Tetrarch (Berlin-Copenhagen type), Constantius I? From Italy. Late third to early fourth century. DESCRIPTION (Object)Over life-size head and separately worked neck. H: 38 cm. H (chin to crown): 24.5 cm. Two different white marbles for head and neck. The head has been re-used and restored in antiquity. It was set on an alien neck in order to connect it to a statue; this neck is reported in latest catalogue as modern. A triangular portion of the throat under the right ear has been fully smoothed and is on a higher plane than the surrounding surfaces. This seems to be a trace of the original surface of the first use of the head. Most of the nose and almost the entire shell of the right ear were restored in antiquity. They might belong to the same moment as the head was set on the neck (Blümel). The nose and ear restorations are now lost. The rim of the left ear is chipped. The short-cropped hair is carefully rendered with fine chisel work on all sides. Careful chisel work also defines the eyebrows and beard. The U-shaped iris is filled with lead. The pupil is rendered as a small drill point. PROVENANCE The head was purchased from an art dealer in Rome in 1909. DESCRIPTION (Subject) The head depicts a man with short hair and beard and a distinctive physiognomy which is known in at least one replica (LSA-806). As set on the alien neck, he turns vigorously to his left. The hair is cut close to the skull and builds in volume only over the centre of the brow where its short ends stand off the forehead. The moustache and beard have been engraved into upper lip and the cheeks. The beard continues on the neck along the junction of the jaw-line and neck. The brow is short and traversed by two creases. The eyes have mannered inner canthi and large irises. The nose, though broken, was clearly hooked, and the nostrils are tucked tightly back into the cheeks while the tip of the nose extends forward. The upper lip dips significantly at the centre. The jaw is deep and the chin large and projecting. The overall effect is of a man with large features in an elongated face under a low brow. IDENTIFICATION AND DATE The head is known in one replica (LSA-806), and two other heads may be versions of the same type (LSA-880and LSA-1055. This indicates that the honorand was probably an Emperor. The fashion style, the short-cropped hair and stubble beard, belong to the period of the Tetrarchy. The hooked nose is a characteristic of Constantius Chlorus and Constantine. Thus, the head is usually identified as Constantius Chlorus since the physiognomy is not that of Constantine. NOTE It is interesting to note that this head comes from the art market in Rome in 1909 and that its replica also comes from the art market in Rome in 1893. It seems difficult to ascertain whether the repairs, most particularly the neck, are all part of the ancient, tetrarchic, re-use or are the work of modern Roman restorers. Main ReferenceDemandt, A. and J. Engemann, (eds.), Konstantin der Grosse, Mainz 2007, no. I.9.1 (K. Dahmen) Maischberger, M., Konstantin in Berlin, Milan 2006, 22-5, 40, no. 1 Blümel, C., Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Katalog der Sammlung antiker Skulpturen. Bd. 6. Römische Bildnisse , Berlin 1933, 50-51, no. R 121, pls. 78-9 Discussion ReferencesBergmann, M., Studien zum römischen Porträt des 3. Jahrhunderts n. Chr., Bonn 1977, 144-7, pls. 41.5-6 and 42.4-5 Donati, A. and G. Gentili, Costantino il Grande. La civiltà antica al bivio tra Occidente e Oriente, Milan 2005, 205-206, no. 3 (Bergmann) Ensoli, S. and E. La Rocca (eds.), Aurea Roma: dalla città pagana alla città cristiana, Roma 2000, 542-3, no. 190 (Bergmann) L'Orange, H. P., Das spätantike Herrscherbild von Diokletian bis zu den Konstantin-Söhnen, 284-361 n. Chr. Das Römische Herrscherbild. III. Abteilung ; Bd. 4 , Berlin 1984, 110, pl. 24 L'Orange, H. P., Studien zur Geschichte des spätantiken Porträts, Oslo 1933, 32, 104, 117, no. 32, figs. 76 and 78 Smith, R.R.R.,'The public image of Licinius I: Portrait sculpture and imperial ideology in the early fourth century', JRS 87, 1997, 184-5, pl.10.1-2 Linkhttp://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/objekt/2389 |
Last Statues of Antiquity
LSA Database
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